with respect to tenderness induced by cooking. When beef flank is cooked
by boiling for two hours, the toughness of the fibers greatly increases
during the first half hour of the cooking period, and then diminishes so
that at the end of the cooking period the meat is found to be in about
the same condition with respect to toughness or tenderness of the fibers
as at the beginning. On the other hand, in case of the tenderloin, there
is a decrease in toughness of the fibers throughout the cooking period
which is particularly marked in the first few minutes of cooking, and at
the end of the cooking period the meat fibers are only half as tough as
before cooking.




CHAPTER XII

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COOKING

Texture and Flavor of Meat--General Methods of Cooking Meat--Economies
in Use of Meat.


A good idea of the changes which take place while meat is being cooked
can be obtained by examining a piece of flesh which has been "cooked to
pieces," as the saying goes. In this the muscular fibers may be seen
completely separated one from another, showing that the connective
tissue has been destroyed. It is also evident that the fibers themselves
are of different texture from those in the raw meat. In preparing meat
for the table it is usual to stop short of the point of disintegration,
but while the long process of cooking is going on the connective tissue